"What was the suggestion?"
"We were driving on an icy road. He told me to slow down."
"What happened?"
"It was his car. Russian cars don't steer well in the cold."
"What happens when Pak gives you advice?"
"He never did."
"Guidance, then."
"Ah. Very good, Richie. That's different. Advice is a question of will. I can take advice or leave it. The burden is on me. Guidance is all about relationships, circles overlapping."
"Did Kang ever give you guidance?"
"No. He wasn't the type."
"What were you doing in Berlin?"
"What?"
"You said you were on a procurement trip in Berlin. You picked up that piano roll. But that's not why you were sent. Since when do police do procurement?"
"I
don't work for you, Richie. I told you already, I'm not going to describe the phones or the cars or anything that doesn't pertain directly to our discussion. This is my session; I'll tell you what you need to know. That's how we do it."
"It won't work. You were in Berlin. If I don't ask why, I get dinged when they read the report."
"Alright, ask."
"What were you doing in Berlin?"
"None of your fucking business."
The Irishman smiled. "Well, now I am beginning to like you, Inspector.
Why, I don't know, exactly. It gives me the feeling I'm falling down a well."
10
The next morning wasn't so humid. It was still August, but the light was starting to change. The sun was losing its edge, and the morning shadows were softening so that even my neighborhood looked less ragged. Across the river, people in the tall new apartment houses were probably out on their balconies, scratching themselves and yawning, looking down on boulevards ten lanes wide. Very grand, but I found it depressing whenever I drove through that part of town. Nice buildings, but no sense of belonging to anything. No place for the old ladies to sit.
When I walked into my office, there was a note from Pak on my desk. He always arrived early, read the overnight logs, prepared the duty sheet, and then went for a stroll. The note said I was to call Kang as soon as I got in. At the bottom of the note Pak had scribbled three stars over a tree. It didn't mean anything to me. I figured Kang would keep while I made some tea, but then remembered our kettle had disappeared, so I went over to the Operations Building to borrow a cup of hot water. By the time I got back, Pak was waiting for me.
"Did you call Kang?"
"No. You didn't say it was urgent."
"Didn't you see the three stars?"
"Since when does three stars mean urgent?"
"Inspector, anytime the Investigations Department calls, it's urgent."
"What can be urgent? I just talked to him last night at the Koryo.
You want to hear? Oh, and he gave me back my pin."
Pak looked at my shirt. "I'm glad it's back home again in your top drawer. Maybe you should wear it sometime." He motioned me to follow him to his office. "You had a good chat with Kang? Anything special he wanted to discuss?"
I went over what Kang had told me about the wrecked car and the bodies, including the boy. Pak drummed his fingers a couple of times on the desk, then stopped. It was a sign that something was bothering him.
"Call him back. Let me know what he wants." I started to pick up Pak's phone, but he put his hand over mine. "Use yours. There's less static."
'Something the matter?"
'No. I had a dream last night."
'How many times do I have to tell you, dreams don't mean anything.
All chemistry and biology and electrical impulses."
It was about a tiger."
What was the tiger doing?"
Nothing. It was swishing its tail. Kind of a hypnotic look in his eyes. Just behind him was a house. Or what was left of it."
'Where were you?"
'I was in bed."
"No, I mean in the dream. Were you climbing a tree, or trying to run away but couldn't, with a hopeless feeling, stifling, like? Then you woke up and you sweated a little, maybe let your heart calm down as you looked at the ceiling?"
"The tiger wasn't doing anything. He wasn't chasing me. He never chases me. He doesn't have to. He just has to wait and swish his tail, in front of that ruined house. It's an omen. I had the same dream just before my son died."
"Tigers are symbols of strength and pride. Cats and crows are a problem. Pigs are good. That's what they say, anyway. Keep dreaming of tigers, as long as they aren't chasing you."
Pak shook his head. "Dreams don't mean anything, you say, and then you repeat old grandmothers' tales about cats and crows."
"Trying to be helpful, that's all."
"Try to be helpful by calling Kang from your office." He waved me out the door.
11
Kang wanted to meet me at the top of the Juche Tower. He said there wouldn't be anyone there at this time of the morning; the observation deck wasn't even open. "It'll be nice and cozy," he said, "just the two of us. We'll lock the elevator, and I can guarantee no one is going to climb 170 meters of stairs to find out what we are doing."
Pak was noncommittal when I told him where Kang wanted to meet.
"That's his style, everything in plain sight. And you can't be any more in plain sight than at the top of that tower at nine o'clock in the morning."
"You think I shouldn't go?"
"I'm not wild about it." He tapped his teeth with a pencil. "But it doesn't really matter where you meet him. Every place is equally bad at this point. Let's just see what he has to say."
The drive over to the tower took twice as long as usual because the normal route was closed off for repairs, and they hadn't bothered to set up any signs. The next street over was blocked by a stalled trolley. I ended up on a flyover that took me the wrong direction, going toward an empty part of the city where there are a few stadiums and sports halls but nothing else. I looped around back into the center of town, took the old Japanese bridge downstream from the tower, and bumped along an alleyway between buildings to join the main road paralleling the river.
When I pulled up, Kang was standing by the ground-floor entrance, under the base of the monument. I could tell from the way he glanced over at my car that he wasn't happy that I'd made him wait again.
As I walked over, he made a show of looking at his watch. "You ever turn up on time, Inspector?"
I tried to look ashamed-no eye contact, the muscles in my neck relaxed so my head sort of hung down. "Screw you," I thought to myself, but as long as I was looking at the ground, he couldn't read my thoughts.
It was positively the last time I was showing any deference to this guy.
Kang nodded to a woman standing in the shadow of the low doorway behind him. "This is Miss Shin. She's been kind enough to put the elevator into service for us."
Miss Shin had a round face and playful eyes. Her hair was swept back into a single braid that was tied at the bottom with a band made of silver and gold thread. She wore loose-fitting leopard-spotted maroon pants and a white blouse with no collar-not exactly your everyday work outfit. The pin of the Leader rested over her heart, just above where her blouse swelled gently out. You pay more attention to some pins than to others.
"Let's get started." Kang went through the doorway and started down the long hall that led to the elevators. Miss Shin fell into step with me.
"You're not afraid of heights, Inspector?" she asked in a low, throaty voice.
"Don't worry, I've been to the top of this thing, many times.
Whenever foreign police officials visit, I have to take them up here and then walk around the grounds to hear the tour." I looked over at her.